The Digimon King
by The Pyromancer
Summary: Ten years after the Tamers have defeated the D-Reaper and were separated from their Digimon partners, Ryo Akiyama lives alone in Shinjuku. Unemployed and facing eviction, he encounters an old friend while doing laundry. New chances open up and possibly a new romance is on the horizon as Ryo tries to find his way in a world without Digimon.
1. Chapter 1: Ryo Akiyama

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon, Digimon Tamers, Ryo Akiyama or Shinjuku.

**Please read and review, your feedback helps me write better stories.**

**The Digimon King**

**Chapter 1: Ryo Akiyama**

As Ryo Akiyama sat at his kitchen table about to eat breakfast, he heard a knock at his door. Putting down his chopsticks, he walked over to the door and answered it. Standing on the other side was the landlord, Mrs. Sugiyama.

"Good morning ma'am, need something?"

"My son called me this morning to say that he's moving back up here from Okinawa and needs a place to stay, so I'm giving him your apartment. I need you to vacate the premise by 2:00pm this Thursday." With that she walked away, leaving Ryo standing there. He just sighed, closed the door and returned to his meal.

It had been 10 years since the group known as the Digimon Tamers had defeated the D-Reaper, and been separated from their Digimon. Time had marched on though, and life had returned to a form of normalcy for the kids. Ryo himself had finally gone back to school after his long absence. School had seemed simple after surviving in the digital world for so long. Simple, easy and boring. He had had no trouble getting top grades. Finding the energy to care had been harder.

Making friends had also been difficult. Kids his age couldn't relate to him. Sure there had been plenty of kids(and adults) who looked up to him for his card skills and taming Cyberdramon, but only the other Tamers could realize what life had been like. Everyday had been a challenge to survive and make sure that Cyberdramon didn't get out of control.

He had made his comeback in the Digimon card game, defeating Rika in a tournament. Then she had defeated him in a second one. After that they had gone back and forth in defeating each other, both basically tied. Eventually this had led to them dating for half a year. They had ended it after realizing they both just enjoyed having each other as friends and rivals instead of as boyfriend and girlfriend.

After he had finished high school Ryo had gone to college and gotten a degree in classic literature just because he could. After finishing up, he had attempted various jobs in all fields ranging from working in a convenience store, to office worker, to working on a fishing boat. None of the jobs had lasted long, he had quit them all. He found himself excelling at all challenges thrown at him, but none held his interest. The only thing he really found any interest in was the Digimon card game. He still played, when he could find an opponent at least. Rika still kept in touch, and they would both compete every so often, just like they always had.

Ryo was currently unemployed, though he was searching for work. He had plenty of funds left, he didn't really need much. Finding a place to stay would be a bother though. He sighed as he finished up his meal and washed his dishes. It was Saturday, so that meant he had only five days to find a place and move out. Well, at least he had gotten that much of a warning; he supposed it could have been worse.

After finishing up the dishes he looked around his small apartment. It was clean, no trash or dirty clothes lying around on the floor. This was less because he was a clean freak, and more because he realized that if he left the problem lying around, it wasn't going to get any better, and just might get in his way.

Saturday was laundry day, so he grabbed up all of his clothes and threw them in a bag. Ryo walked down the streets of Shinjuku enjoying the exercise. He had moved to the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo from Kyushu after graduating from high school. Part of the reason was because the only people he could relate to, the other Tamers lived there. The other part, which was the biggest, though Ryo would only ever admit it under duress, was to get away from his family. He knew his father cared, but they just couldn't seem to understand each other. His father had also remarried, bringing in a step-mother and little step sister. Yuri was 7 years younger than him and had wanted to spend time with him. Sadly Ryo's time in the digital world had left him distrustful of people, and he had had trouble connecting with her.

Ryo walked into the Laundromat and took stock of his surroundings. The place was mostly empty, with only two machines in use currently. One of them was to his right, and was occupied by an old lady he always saw on Saturdays. To his left was a man in an orange t-shirt. The man closed up the washing machine he had just loaded, and turned it on. He turned, saw Ryo, and waved.

"Hey Ryo! How's it going?" said Henry Wong walking over to greet his fellow Tamer. Ryo walked over and shook his hand.

"Going good. What are you doing here? Don't you have a washing machine in your apartment?"

"It broke, and today I was in charge of laundry, so here I am." Henry shrugged and loaded up the last of his family's clothes into a second machine. Ryo separated his own clothes and loaded them in the machines. They stood there not talking for a few minutes just listening to the noise of the machines.

"So, how's the job search going?" asked Henry, breaking the silence.

"Running out of jobs. I've been getting offers from several large companies and even some small ones that want me to work for them."

"That's a good thing, isn't it? Why don't you just take one of the offers?"

"They're all office jobs. Been there, done that, it was boring." Ryo let out a small chuckle. "It's kind of stupid really. I've been in so many jobs for such a short period of time and people still keep hiring me. If you were running a company, would you want an employee who would leave a job after a week because he was bored?"

"Probably not," replied Henry, considering for a moment. "Why not come work at Hypnos? I'm sure Yamaki could find something for you to do. You've always been fast at picking up on how to do things."

"Maybe," responded Ryo hesitantly. He wasn't exactly sure that he really wanted to go to Hypnos, though it would definitely have its perks. "Before I make a decision on where to work I should probably find a place to live."

"Aren't you renting an apartment a little ways down from here?"

"The landlady's son is returning and wants the room, so I'm getting evicted in five days."

"Ouch," said Henry. He looked thoughtful for a moment then spoke up again. "This could actually work out though. Since all of my siblings except Suzie moved out of the apartment, my parents have been thinking of getting a smaller living space. I was actually checking out apartments since this seemed like a good chance to move out and live on my own. I found some that would work for two people and we could split rent. I was thinking of asking Takato but since he works part time at his parents' bakery anyways he doesn't really need to move out. If you're interested we could go check out several rooms after we finish with these clothes."

The machines behind them beeped to indicate that they were done. Both of the tamers were silent as they swapped out loads and folded clothes. Ryo took the break in the conversation to think about Henry's offer. He had been very efficient at his past jobs and usually worked overtime, just to fill the hours. The young man had plenty of money, but splitting costs with another person would still be useful.

Plus, he had generally never had a problem with Henry. They had argued a few times but nothing serious just the usual discussions with people with different points of view. He guessed if he had to share an apartment with someone Henry would be at the top of the list.

When they had finished folding the current load and loaded the machines they settled back into the same positions and resumed their talk.

"Sounds worth a shot," answered Ryo. Henry smiled, relieved at his answer.

"Glad to hear it."

After that they chatted for a little while about Henry's work at Hypnos and lots of other mundane topics. The machines beeped indicating the loads were done. As they folded, they inevitably ended up talking about Digimon cards and different strategies. Even now, more than 10 years after it had first come out, new Digimon shows, cards, video games and other products were still coming out. Ryo liked that this meant that he needed to adjust his strategies every time new cards came out, it kept him on his toes.

Three hours later Ryo was sitting in Henry's apartment looking over ads for rooms he had found while searching. Ryo had brought his clothes back to his house then helped Henry carry all of his family's clothes. They had narrowed down the choices to three places, all of which were good deals and well placed. All that was really left was to visit them and talk to the landlords about terms. Since they were done for the night, Ryo and Henry had started a game of cards. Ryo always made sure to have two decks on him in case he got bored.

Henry's little sister Suzie arrived at the apartment right as Ryo's Justimon decimated Henry's Gallantmon and won him the game.

"Ryo!" exclaimed Suzie, rushing over and giving him a hug. He resisted smiling as the girl did so, figuring that if Henry caught him doing so he'd kill him. "What are you doing here?"

"I happened to meet your brother while doing my laundry today. I was thinking of getting a new apartment and Henry suggested we split one, so here I am, looking at apartments."

"Looks to me like you're just playing cards," said Suzie, putting her hands on her hips and trying to muster her most disapproving glare, though Ryo could see that see was barely restraining a smile.

"We finished," said Henry, finally speaking up. "Mom and Dad are going to be out tonight so we're in charge of feeding ourselves, by the way."

"Aw! I hate cooking!" Suzie walked down the hall to her room and threw her bag inside, presumably onto her bed from the lack of a thump. "And your cooking is awful! Honestly, you have a degree in computer science and a high paying job at a government facility and you can't even cook rice!"

"There's nothing wrong with my cooking."

"Yes there is, it tastes awful! Maybe eating so much of it dulled your taste buds or something," she said, walking back down the hall into the living room.

"Hey," said Ryo, speaking up. "If you want, I could cook. I'm not half bad."

"Really?" asked Suzie, her eyes lighting up with hope. She might be older, but she was still as expressive as when she was a kid of seven.

"Yep. You can show me where everything is, let's just clean up these cards first." Suzie nodded in assent and went to grabbing things and taking them out of the fridge.

As they cleaned up the cards Ryo discreetly sneaked a peak at the teenager. Last he had seen her had been just one year prior, but every time he saw her she seemed to change tremendously. Gone was the little girl who had cried at every little thing. In her place was a cheerful teenage girl who spent most of her free time out with her friends. She had matured physically also, though Ryo estimated that height wise, and maybe even bust wise, she still had some more growing to do.

With the cards cleaned up, Ryo headed into the kitchen, and got to work, with Suzie assisting him. While she didn't like cooking for herself, she enjoyed helping others do so. Ryo didn't have a problem with her help though. He had never had any trouble dealing with the young girl, and had actually enjoyed spending time teaching her cards when they were younger.

Teaching, now that was something he never really got tired of doing. Every day was different and a challenge. _Maybe I should get a teaching degree, just for the heck of it,_ he thought to himself. Plus, the satisfaction when the other party finally understood the lesson was priceless. After dealing with Cyberdramon, a hyperactive kid or two was literally child's play.

Ryo decided to get creative with the meal. He heated up some canned chicken broth and adding water and some herbs made a soup. While he did so Suzie following his instructions cooked up some rice noodles. Ryo then blanched some vegetables, throwing everything together right before they started to eat. What came out was a very interesting soup to say the least. Henry sat at the table staring at his food for a minute as if trying to figure out if it was edible. He took a spoonful and ate it. His face lit up in pleasant surprise.

"Hey, this is pretty good," he said, taking another spoonful. Suzie and Ryo both dug into their own bowls. "Where did you learn to make it?"

"I was in China briefly for a card tournament and the family I was staying with blanched their vegetables a lot like this. Just gave me the idea, glad it turned out well."

Ryo drained the rest of the broth and occupied himself with the challenge of eating the remaining vegetables and rice noodles with his chopsticks. Even the slippery noodles couldn't escape from his skilled grasp.

When they were finished eating, Henry washed up the dishes while Ryo assisted Suzie with her homework. After instructing her on how to work with trigonometric functions he looked at the clock and started to leave.

"Well it's getting late so I should probably head out," he said, standing up from the table. Henry put the last dish into the drying rack and looked up at him.

"Have a good night. I'll drop by your apartment tomorrow at ten and we can go and check out the apartments."

"Got it," replied Ryo, walking over to the front door. As he opened the door and was about to leave, Suzie walked over and gave him a hug.

"Thanks for the help tonight," she said, a smile on her face. "I hope you find a new place tomorrow." With that, she took her books from the table and walked into her room.

Ryo walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind him. As he walked leisurely down the brightly lit Shinjuku streets, he thought back on the days events. While he could always file a complaint and probably end up keeping his current apartment, he had started to get bored with his current living situation. Every day was the same, with nothing new or interesting and they blurred together monotonously. A new apartment plus a roommate might liven things up.

In addition, he had gotten a new idea for a possible job: teaching. It might take a while to get his degree and license and actually land a job, but he figured the challenge would liven up his life significantly. He'd probably need to find a part-time job just to help with possible expenses, but that shouldn't prove too hard.

Ryo made it home without difficulty, and brushed his teeth and changed into pajama bottoms and an undershirt. Soon he was lying down in his futon and sleeping. His dreams that night were of his meetings with the other tamers, with special emphasis on the parts with Henry and Suzie.

When he woke up in the morning the next day he remembered none of them. When Henry knocked on his door he was ready to leave immediately. When they left his apartment Ryo couldn't help, but smile and think that this felt like the start of an interesting new adventure.


	2. Chapter 2: Daily Life

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon, Digimon Tamers, Ryo Akiyama or Shinjuku, yet….

**Please read and review, your feedback helps me write better stories.**

**Chapter 2: Daily Life**

"Hey Ryo! How do you read this sentence?"

Ryo looked up from his coursework and saw Suzie sitting across from him working on her own. In front of her was an English short story that she needed to translate. The Digimon King let out a sigh. Who in their right mind would assign that much work to third year High School students?

"Here, let me see it," he responded, grabbing her book and flipping it to read it. She had made it to the end with only needing to ask him a few times (three to be exact, counting this most recent time) for help on translating the story. He looked at the sentence she was struggling with and read it aloud. "As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon-then all is darkness and silence!" Then, not one to give help without explanation, Ryo flipped the book back around and started explaining to her why it translated to that.

It had been about 13 months since he and Henry had moved into an apartment together. They had divided the chores between them, Ryo handling the food since he got home from classes before Henry got back from work at Hypnos. Anyways, he was also the better cook. He also did the shopping, that way there was never any confusion as to what was needed for meals. In exchange, Henry handled cleaning the apartment and doing the laundry.

Ryo had to admit that he enjoyed having a roommate. Henry wasn't exactly the most talkative person, but neither was Ryo really. They kept to their own devices most of the time, but just the act of sharing a space meant interactions occurred quite frequently. Conversation would happen naturally and spontaneously, and Ryo enjoyed talking about both the intellectual and mundane.

Of course they would play the Digimon card game every so often. Ryo won most of the time, but Henry always managed to get a win here and there. He wasn't a bad player, and if Ryo and Rika hadn't been so active of players and he had actually felt like applying himself he could have done very well when he had been younger, probably even won a tournament or two.

An unexpected effect of sharing an apartment with Henry meant that Suzie would come over at least once a week, sometimes more often if an exam was approaching or she had a project to work on. The energetic teenage girl would ask Ryo's advice and get help on her work. Not that she needed it though. She was bright, and while maybe not as brainy as her brother, she could still manage most assignments on her own with little trouble.

Ryo guessed that she just wasn't used to not seeing Henry or at least feeling his presence around her home. He had thought in the beginning that her visits would decrease with time, but keeping a log in his head he realized that they actually increased. Suzie would even occasionally eat meals with them and play some games of Digimon. She wasn't quite as good as her brother and ended up beating Henry just twice and Ryo not even once. Despite these losses she seemed to enjoy every minute and Ryo couldn't help but feel his own spirits lifted in the presence of the girl.

Done with the explanation, Ryo went back to his own work as Suzie took out her math coursework. Ryo had been back at school for the last year on an accelerated course. He had already finished all of the basic courses when he had completed his degree in Classic Literature before, which meant that he had the advantage of going straight to the courses he needed with only a few tests to show he still remembered the material. He was almost done with the in school work needed for his teaching license, though he made sure not to mention to most people, especially others aiming for the same goal, how quickly and easily he was doing so.

As Ryo finished up his assignment he looked up and saw that the light drifting through the window was tinged orange as the day approached sundown. He could see Suzie sitting across from him, still working diligently on her math assignment. Her hair glowed purple in the light as very dark hair seemed to do when viewed at the right angle. He had managed to see Henry's hair in the same type of situation before but it seemed to glow blue instead of purple.

"Thinking about something?"

Ryo had been too busy pondering the mystery behind how really dark hair could seem to glow different colors to realize that Suzie had stopped writing and was looking at him, a puzzled expression on her face. He refocused on the world outside of his mind and answered her.

"Your hair," he answered honestly. "If viewed from the right lighting your hair seems to be purple, even though I know it's just a really dark black. Henry's hair is the same, except his seems blue."

"That's a weird thing to be thinking about."

Ryo just shrugged.

"I've accomplished most mundane activities so far, all I have left to do are weird ones.

"How's work at the convenience store going? I'm surprised that you're not tired from going to school during the day and working a shift at night."

"It's a pretty easy job, and I had less sleep when I worked on a crab boat or when I was taming Cyberdramon, now those were tough jobs." He let loose a little laugh, but it seemed to disappear into the silence of the room as the teenager just stared at him, a look of curiosity on her face.

"Do you miss him?" she asked.

"Cyberdramon? Yeah, all the time. It's been ten years, but I still find myself remembering all of our adventures together." Ryo let go a tired sigh as he felt himself being drawn back into old memories. "It wasn't always fun, and it was usually dangerous, but never do I find myself regretting it. They were the greatest times of my life. He was and will probably always be my best friend."

They were quiet for a few minutes as Suzie took in his words. Ryo broke the silence this time.

"What about you? Do you miss Lopmon?"

"Everyday," she said, her usually smiling face downcast. "I only knew him for a fraction of the time you knew Cyberdramon, but he quickly became an important friend to me. I find myself thinking what life would be like if he was still here with me. Would he enjoy himself? Is he safe and sound right now in the digital world? I worry about him constantly. What about if I had never met him? Would I still be the same I am today?"

Silence settled between them as they both contemplated what the other had said. Suzie went back to working on her Math assignment and Ryo leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

_If I had never met Cyberdramon, would I be the same I same today?_ He wondered. _My adventures in the Digital world shaped me more than any other event in my life. If I had experienced it with another partner, like Renamon, I don't think it would have been the same. I probably wouldn't be the same. I'm glad Cyberdramon was with me. I'm also pleased with how I am today, wouldn't want to change that._

A buzzing sound knocked Ryo out of his thoughts and he opened his eyes. Checking his phone he saw that Henry had texted him.

'On way home,' it read on the screen. Ryo stood up and stretched briefly after not having moved for a while. He looked at Suzie who was still concentrating on her coursework.

"Hey Suzie, are you staying for dinner or heading home to eat with your parents?"

"Can I eat here?" she asked, looking up at him from her work. "Don't tell my mother, but you're a better cook. Not that she's bad at cooking, your food is just really good."

"Sucking up to get a meal huh? Sure, just call your parents and ask them if it's ok." Ryo moved into the apartment's small kitchen and started taking out food from the fridge. "Honestly, we should start charging you for all the food you eat. I thought teenage girls weren't supposed to eat this much. Where do you keep it all?"

He eyed her curiously, as if looking for a secret compartment. Suzie made the most indignant looking face she could manage.

"You're not supposed to tell a girl she eats a lot you know. You might hurt my feelings." The girl made the saddest face she could, faking hurt feelings, but had to fight from smiling.

"Girl?" Ryo asked, taking down some pots and pans. "I thought I was talking to a black hole."

Suzie just stuck her tongue out at him for a moment and then returned to her coursework. Ryo concentrated on making dinner and within the next half hour he was just finishing up as Henry walked through the front door.

"Smells good," he said, walking over to the couch and sitting down, his stuff falling in a heap next to him. "What did you make?"

"Lemon pepper catfish," said Ryo, holding up a plate with large pieces of the breaded fish. "I also made some corn muffins, which are just finishing. Oh, and some salad to round out the meal."

Henry briefly looked up from where he was resting and raised an eyebrow at Ryo.

"That's a very…weird meal."

"I'm working through a list of world recipes, just to keep things interesting."

"Is that why we can't seem to have the same meal twice?"

"Yep. Do you want the same meal twice?" asked Ryo.

"This is fine, I was just curious."

"I've been doing this for a year and you're only finding it weird now?"

"Fried catfish isn't traditional Japanese or Chinese food to my knowledge."

"Pretty sure it's American actually."

"Yeah, that would make sense."

Suzie looked up from her coursework and finally commented.

"You two sound like an old married couple, did you know that?"

"And what would that make you?" asked Ryo, clearing off the table for the food and plates.

"The sweet princess who needs to be rescued from your abusive clutches."

"Abusive?" asked Henry, walking over and helping Ryo set the table. "How many meals have you eaten here? Honestly, you should be paying us for the food."

"Ryo said the same thing," said Suzie, sitting back down at the table after moving her stuff onto the couch. "Now let's eat!"

They all sat down, put food on their plates and started to eat.

"Hey, this is pretty good," said Henry, taking another bite of fish.

"You should make this more often," said Suzie.

"You wouldn't say that as quickly if you just took a look at the mess in the kitchen," responded Ryo with a smile. "Not exactly my cleanest meal."

"Hey, I'm not the one who has to do the dishes," Suzie said with a grin.

"You get free tutoring and meals, you're helping me with those dishes," replied Henry.

"I'd like to see you make me."

"I'll deal with you after I'm done eating."

"You're just afraid."

"Yeah, that my meal will go cold."

They went back to eating in silence for a few minutes. Ryo had just sat and observed the exchange between the siblings. He always found it interesting how they could banter like that.

He briefly wondered about how his own sister was doing. The last time he had talked to Yuri had been during a brief visit to Kyushu about five years previously. They had exchanged pleasantries and Ryo had then gone to talk to his dad. During dinner that night they had sat in uncomfortable silence throughout the whole meal.

Henry and Suzie's relationship seemed so natural. They never needed to force out conversation, and even though they always threw insults at each other, it was always in fun. Ryo sometimes felt like an outsider intruding, but only for a brief moment. The siblings had made him feel like a part of their family, and they would probably never know how much that really meant to him.

Ryo was knocked out of his reverie when Henry turned and asked him a question.

"Hey, do you have plans this Friday night?"

"Just work at the store from 6 to 10 that night. Any reason?"

"Did you finally realize your love for Ryo and you're inviting him on a date?" asked Suzie, a mischievous smile on her face. "I'd love to have him as a brother in-law."

"No," replied Henry, glaring at Suzie in a futile attempt to keep her quiet. "A co-worker came up to me today and asked if I'd be willing to go on a group date with her Friday."

"Is she cuter than me?"

"Yes," said Henry instantly, causing Suzie to frown. Ryo had to fight back a laugh. "I've been informed by a laughing Shibumi that she apparently spent the last week staring at me trying to work up the courage to talk to me."

"So, I'm assuming you said yes to a group date?" asked Ryo.

"Yes, she's bringing two friends and I'm supposed to also."

"What about asking Kazu, Kenta or Takato?"

"Kenta has a girlfriend, Shinobu, one of his coworkers at the hospital."

"Right, forgot about that for a moment. I don't remember hearing about Kazu or Takato having girlfriends currently though."

"Wasn't Takato dating Jeri?" asked Suzie, reminding them she was still there.

"Briefly, seven years ago," responded Henry. "They broke up though."

"Too bad. I always thought they made a cute couple," replied Suzie.

"There was too much baggage between them with Leomon's death and the D-Reaper," said Henry sadly. "As I was saying, Kazu's in Hong Kong for a business trip. Takato said he'd be up for it, but we still need a third person."

Ryo sat and thought about it for a few minutes, and then made a decision.

"I'll go, but I need to check with my boss first and see if I can switch shifts with Shigure."

"Thank you for this. I'm not even sure the last time I was on a date…"

"Probably never," said Suzie, finishing the last of her food.

"Shouldn't you be doing the dishes instead of bothering me?"

"I thought we agreed earlier that you would do the dishes alone and not bother your sweet and beautiful sister with them."

Ryo finished up the rest of his meal than looked at the clock. He stood up and looked at the squabbling siblings.

"Well, I've got to head to work. I'll check about swapping my shift for the week, just make sure the dishes are done and the kitchen clean before I get back," he said with a cheerful smile.

"Don't worry I'll make sure Henry gets them done," replied a smiling Suzie. Henry just growled at her and started clearing off the table.

As Ryo was leaving the apartment, Suzie was in the kitchen assisting her brother with clean up. With a smile on his face at the sight, Ryo walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3: Group Date

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon, Digimon Tamers, Ryo Akiyama or Shinjuku.

**Please read and review, your feedback helps me write better stories.**

**Chapter 3: Group Date**

Child Ryo stood in the center of a room filled to the bursting with people. In his arms he held a Monodramon plushy, hugging it tightly. Child Ryo recognized no one in the room. One of the men came up to him.

"umedmmzelilennion?" asked the man. Child Ryo struggled to try to understand the man and respond, but found himself frozen in confusion. The man tried asking again. "umedmmzelilennion?"

Child Ryo shook his head in confusion. The man gave up and walked away to speak in gibberish to another person. A little girl Child Ryo's age came up to him and spoke up.

"umedmmzelilennion?" she asked.

"I don't understand," he replied, distress filling him. The girl turned and walked away. Child Ryo tightened his grip around the plushy even more. Suddenly he recognized a face in the sea of unfamiliar faces. He ran over to the man, calling out. "Dad!"

Ryo's father turned around to face him.

"umedmmzelilennion?" he asked. Child Ryo stopped in his tracks and had to fight the urge to cry.

"Dad? I don't understand..." he replied.

His father looked at him as if he was the one speaking gibberish. He turned and walked away, leaving Child Ryo standing there alone.

"Dad!" yelled Child Ryo, stretching out his arm in a futile attempt to stop him from leaving.

The Monodramon plushy fell out of his arms as he did so. Child Ryo reached down and picked it up, clutching it tightly to his chest. The plushy resisted being held so tightly and the whole thing burst open in a cloud of stuffing. The boy held the remains of the plushy as the stuffing fell around him like snow.

He burst into tears at that moment. No one stopped to look at him. They didn't seem to realize that he was crying or maybe just didn't want to do anything about it. As he cried, Child Ryo suddenly heard a voice whisper his name.

"Ryo," said the voice. It had a menace to it, but Child Ryo didn't care. Here was someone calling for him, someone he could understand, so he called back.

"Yes? Who are you? Where are you?"

"I'm right here," replied the voice. It sounded like the speaker was right behind his shoulder, so Child Ryo turned, but he saw no one. The presence stayed at his shoulder though, seeming to move with him. "You're my Tamer Ryo, I'll always be there for you."

Suddenly green chains of light made of code surrounded Child Ryo. He tried to get free but couldn't. Strange shadowy dragon heads appeared over each shoulder and the voice spoke up again.

"You're my partner Ryo; I won't abandon you. I understand you like no one else does or ever will. Together we can deal with anything." The menace in the voice scared Child Ryo like nothing else and he let loose a scream.

Ryo Akiyama woke up in his futon, sitting up suddenly in a cold sweat. He looked around his dark room, but it was devoid of anyone else. He crawled out of the sheets and walked carefully down the dark hall into the bathroom. The former Digimon King turned on the lights and shut the door.

Looking in the mirror, he saw his reflection staring back at him. He was covered in sweat and paler than usual. Ryo splashed water on his face, washing away the remnants of the nightmare.

After a while, he felt better and walked back into his room, checking the clock. The digital display read 3:28am. Ryo crawled back into his futon, but found that he just couldn't fall asleep for once. Ever since he had first become Cyberdramon's partner he'd been able to fall asleep quickly and wake up at the slightest sign of trouble.

Now, not being able to fall asleep, he just stared at the dark ceiling, thinking. It had been three days since Henry had invited Ryo to go on the group date. That night at work he had asked his boss and co-worker Shigure Tooyama about switching shifts and they had both been fine with it. Comments about how they were glad he was finally spending time for himself had come up, with his boss cracking dirty jokes the rest of the night.

Suzie had come over every night since then, teasing them endlessly. Henry just took it in stride and fired back with his own witty comments. While they had been some of the noisiest nights he had ever experienced, Ryo found that they had also been some of the most enjoyable.

Now it was Friday and a strange type of fear suddenly hit Ryo. Here was one of the few things he wasn't good at, interacting with people. Sure, he could be charming and hold small talk, but that was usually quick and just to get people to leave him alone after their curiosity was satisfied.

Ever since his adventures in the digital world the only people he had ever been able to relate to had been the other Tamers. That was one of the reasons that Henry wanting to split an apartment with him had felt like a godsend.

At the event he would be an important part of the conversation. He would be expected to interact. Ryo wondered how he was supposed to do that when he just couldn't understand normal people.

_The only reason I'm doing this is to help out Henry_, he thought to himself. He realized he was being pessimistic and probably needlessly worrying. _Maybe it won't be as bad as I'm worried about. I go to the restaurant, talk to the girls, have a nice dinner, make sure Henry and Takato leave with their dates, and kindly turn down my own._

Having reassured himself slightly, Ryo gave up on sleeping and decided to start his morning workout routine early. He stretched, did some calisthenics and went for a morning jog. The streets were even emptier than usual due to the early hour. He made it back home, took a shower and started up breakfast, deciding that since he had extra time he'd make pancakes.

Ryo was just finishing the pancakes when Henry walked out of his room rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked at all the pancakes.

"Wow, you're up early," he commented, walking over and taking a seat in the kitchen. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing," replied Ryo, pouring the last batch of batter onto the pan. "Just woke up early and wasn't tired enough to go back to sleep. How did you sleep?"

"Fine," answered Henry, finally waking up. "You sure it's nothing? You're usually up like clockwork, feels weird to see you breaking your own schedule."

"Just a bad dream, nothing more."

Ryo took the last pancake out of the pan and put it onto the plate with the rest. He then carried over the pancakes and got out some dishes, silverware and syrup. They sat eating in silence. They both finished up and washed their plates. Ryo cleaned up the kitchen while Henry hopped in the shower.

When he was done cleaning up, Ryo prepared to leave for class. He called down the hall to Henry, who he could hear had just turned off the water.

"I'm heading out to class now. See you back here at five."

"See you later!" came the response from down the hall.

Ryo opened the front door and walked outside into the warm summer air. June was coming to a close and with it so would the school term. He'd be getting his teaching license in just a week when the University's semester came to a close, meaning the time to try to find a job was quickly approaching.

Ryo's day passed uneventfully as he made it to school, attended his classes and left. As he sat on the train heading back home he listened to music through his ear buds to distract himself from thinking about the group date in a few hours. He unlocked the front door and walked in to see Suzie already sitting at the table doing her coursework. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Hey. How's it going?" she asked.

Ryo walked over to the table, putting his bag down on it and took a seat.

"Fine. How about you? Shouldn't you be out with your friends or something on a Friday night instead of here?"

"All my friends have dates tonight. We're all going to meet up tomorrow for lunch and gossip about how they went," she replied, returning to her work.

"Ah. Remember not to waste all your precious youth on hanging out at your brother's smelly bachelor pad."

"I'll keep that in mind. You two actually keep this place pretty clean for a bunch of losers. I'd expect a lot more clutter or junk. Honestly, there aren't even any obvious porn magazines lying around."

"You've been looking?"

"When I'm bored, yeah. Anything to use as leverage against Henry," she responded with a smile.

"How did you get in anyways? Did Henry not lock the door when he left?"

"The landlady saw me standing outside. She's very nice and knows I'm Henry's sister so she just let me in with a master key."

"Pretty sure that's an invasion of privacy."

"There's no such thing as privacy when you have younger siblings, didn't you know that?" said Henry, walking in through the front door. He closed in and walked over to the table to join them. "Don't you have a younger sister?"

"Step sister," corrected Ryo. "Shortly after getting back from the digital world my dad remarried due to my mother passing away while I was gone. Yuri is about Suzie's age actually."

"Is she as cute as me?" asked Suzie, making what Ryo assumed she thought was a cutesy face. Ryo had to resist the very strong urge to burst into laughter, failing slightly and letting out a chuckle. Suzie pouted at his dismissal of her charm.

"Do you plan to ask that every time we mention a girl?" asked Henry, smirking at his sister's slight distress.

"Only until you give the right answer," she answered, sticking out her tongue at him.

"As much as I enjoy teasing you, I need to get ready for the group date," said Henry, standing up from the table.

Ryo also stood up and giving a small sigh went to get ready. In less than twenty minutes they were ready and bidding Suzie goodbye, leaving her Ryo's key so that she could lock up when she was done.

"I'll return it tomorrow before I head out with my friends," she called out as they walked through the front door. "Have fun on your date; remember to pay their side of the check."

Henry and Ryo walked down the Shinjuku streets, the Hypnos building looming in the background like a sentinel. They made it to the Matsuki Bakery and saw their friend and fellow former Tamer Takato Matsuki standing outside, doodling on a sketch pad. Henry waved and called out to get his attention.

"Takato!"

The young man almost dropped his sketch pad in surprise, having been completely involved in drawing. He turned to face them, his face slightly red in embarrassment.

"Hey Henry, how's it going?" he asked, walking towards them.

"Good," replied Henry. "You ready to go?"

"Yep," responded Takato. Together they walked down the Shinjuku streets to where they were planning on meeting the girls. Takato turned to speak to Ryo.

"So, how's it going Ryo?" he asked. "What have you been up to lately?"

"Fine," responded Ryo. "Just about to finish up with getting my teaching license."

"You're trying to become a teacher?"

"Yeah. I've tried pretty much every other job, so I figured why not. How about you? How's work at the bakery?"

"We've been busy lately. Ten years later and Guilmon bread is still as popular an order as ever. We're the official Digimon bakery, so every so often dad will experiment and make a limited edition Digimon themed pastry. We've even been asked to assist in making bread for tournaments and similar events."

Takato said all of this with a smile and Ryo wondered at how well he had gotten over the loss of Guilmon. It wasn't callousness, Takato was too kind for that, but he had seen that there was no point in dwelling on what he couldn't stop. Ryo suspected that Takato was one of the highest on the list of people who would be excited to get a working portal to the Digital world. He hadn't let the loss get him down very long and had worked to better himself.

They soon made it to the meeting spot right outside of the okonomiyaki restaurant ten minutes early. The three Tamers stood around awkwardly waiting as people walked past them, ignoring them. Almost right when Ryo's phone said that it was six came a shout.

"Henry!"

They turned and Henry smiled at the woman waving at them. Two other women stood awkwardly on either side of her.

"Hey Kimiko, how are you?"

"Glad to be done with work today," she said, walking over to them.

Now that they were closer, Ryo was able to see what each of the girls looked like. They were all young, probably the same age group as the Tamers. They were also; Ryo had to admit, very good looking.

The one Henry had called Kimiko was of medium height with medium length brown hair tied back into a tail. Her gray eyes sparkled with unconcealed glee as she led the two girls on either side of her towards them. The girl to her right was also of medium height, with short black hair cut off at her shoulders and brown eyes. She seemed amused by her friend, and was looking over each of the guys. The girl on Kimiko's left was shorter than the other two, with long black hair and gray eyes with brown rings. She was lagging slightly behind the others and Ryo got the feeling that she wasn't quite as excited as her friend.

Henry stepped forward to greet them and introduce Takato and Ryo to the group.

"Hello ladies. I'm Henry Wong and this is Takato Matsuki and Ryo Akiyama," he said, pointing to each of them in turn.

"Hey," said Ryo.

"Hiya," said Takato, waving his hand nervously in greeting.

"Nice to meet you two finally. I'm Kimiko," said the first girl. She pointed to the girl to her right. "This is Miho Hayasaka. The girl to my left is Ayumi Tohya."

"Hello," responded Miho with a smile.

"H-hi," said Ayumi nervously.

"Want to go in and sit now?" asked Henry.

"Sure," responded Kimiko.

With those two leading, Ryo and the others followed them into the restaurant, which was already rowdy. They got a table for six and were soon seated at a booth, the guys on one side and the women on the other. Ryo and Miho were the closest to the wall with Henry and Kimiko in the middle. Takato and Ayumi were both placed at the end of their respective side and glancing awkwardly around them.

The restaurant was of the cook-it-yourself variety. In the middle of the table was a metal hot plate for cooking the pancake batter and ingredients they'd be given. They each quickly ordered their toppings and gave their menus to the waiter.

An awkward silence started to settle on the table as the groups tried to figure out what they could talk about. Luckily, Miho came to the rescue this time and started up conversation.

"So, you guys were a part of the Digimon Tamers, right?" she asked. "You fought that giant blob thing, right?"

"The D-Reaper," responded Henry. "My partner was Terriemon."

"I love Terriermon!" said Miho. "I have his card, he's so cute. What about you two?"

"My partner was Guilmon," said Takato, starting to warm up to the conversation.

"Like the bread?" asked Ayumi, finally speaking up.

"Yeah. I created Guilmon from a sketch pad, and then my father made the bread based off of Guilmon. We still sell it too. The bread that is. And other Digimon themed pastries. If you're ever in Shinjuku and nearby you should check us out. All three of you are welcome. If you ask nicely we can make retired recipes too, my dad's always up for a change of pace."

"And you?" asked Miho again, looking at Ryo.

"My partner is Monodramon, although he's usually in his ultimate form, Cyberdramon," replied Ryo, taking a sip from his drink.

"You just said is, do you still have your digimon?" asked Kimiko.

"No, they were all sent back to the digital world," said Ryo. "But to me Cyberdramon will always be my partner. No one else can take his place. I think anyone who had a Digimon partner feels the same."

Mutters of assent and nods came from Henry and Takato. The girls just stared at them, but Ryo saw respect in their eyes. The waiter came over with their batter and several bowls of rice and other side dishes, laying it all down on the table. They thanked him and started to eat. Ryo took charge of the okonomiyaki, pouring the batter onto separate sections of the metal plate. Conversation dropped for a little bit while they got everything settled. This time Henry started the conversation.

"So, what do you two do as work?" he asked, directing his question at Miho and Ayumi.

"I'm a music teacher at Shinjuku High School," answered Miho.

"My little sister's a student there," said Henry.

"Who's your sister? Do you know if she's ever taken my class?"

"Suzie Wong. I don't think she's ever mentioned a music course," replied Henry.

"No problem. Can't really expect to know every student or have every student know every teacher."

"I heard Suzie try to sing once, I don't think even your class could help her," said Ryo with a smile.

"What do you do?" Takato asked Ayumi, trying to make conversation.

"I'm an artist," she replied, looking down at her food.

"That's cool! I draw as a hobby to keep myself busy. I drew Guilmon before he was created, although my art is much better now," he said with a grin. "Do you teach like Miho? Or do you do illustrations for a company or something?"

"I-I draw Manga…" she mumbled.

"You're a Manga-ka?" asked Takato, still trying to push the conversation. "What Manga?"

"Animagus," said Miho, stepping in to assist her friend.

"I read that!" said Takato, excited now. "It's really good. The part where Lucy saved Roy from the drug dealers and was forced to reveal she could turn into a cat was great. Then there was the part where they fought the dinosaurs. Why did you set the story in America with all the characters having American names though?"

"I've always enjoyed American comics," replied Ayumi, sounding slightly embarrassed. "I just didn't really feel like having the setting here in Japan, I wanted to set the story apart from all other similar Manga. My editor was worried about it at first, but he decided to let me try it. It was lucky that it worked out. I have a friend who's an actress in California and she gives me advice and helps with research."

"Your friend is a Hollywood actress?" asked Henry.

"Yeah, Sekai Nanasawa," answered Kimiko. "Have you heard of her?"

"Wasn't she in that movie about the students shipwrecked on an island a few years ago?" asked Henry.

"Yeah," replied Kimiko. "She moved to California shortly after."

"She did a good performance in that one," said Ryo.

"So, what do you do?" Miho asked him.

"I've done a little bit of everything. I'm actually back at school getting my teaching license," he replied.

"What do you want to teach?" asked Miho

"I guess literature. I have a degree in classic literature already. Plus the subject is pretty interesting in my opinion."

"Have you found a school to work at yet?"

"Not yet,"

"What about at Shinjuku High?" asked Kimiko.

"I don't think we're hiring right now, but I could put in a good word for you," said Miho.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that," he said, flashing a smile.

Despite his earlier fears, the dinner progressed smoothly from there. Everyone eased up and conversation came out between the group as easily as it did between Henry, Suzie and Ryo. Something still felt weird to him though. He tried to figure it out and at a point in the conversation where everyone had finished eating he realized what it was.

He just couldn't relate to the girls. The experiences they talked about, the stories about their adventures in high school, hanging out with friends; these weren't things he had experienced. Inversely, any conversation about Digimon wasn't taken serious by them. For the Tamers, and especially Ryo, Digimon were real and had been an important part of his life.

For these girls, they had been a passing fancy that they would make fun of the boys in their class for playing. Maybe if they saw a cute card, like Terriermon, they would collect it, but that was it.

Vikaralamon, the boar Deva, had brought Digimon into their life when he had destroyed large sections of Shinjuku and made them realize they existed, but it still didn't click for most people. They had been evacuated before the real danger had kicked in. When the fighting against the D-Reaper had started, they had been far away. The only information they had received had been through a TV screen, causing all of the events to seem impersonal. Only the Tamers, the parents who had been there and the members of Hypnos could really know the terror of the D-Reaper's attack.

Similarly only the Tamers could relate to each other on their time in the digital world. Ryo had spent by far the most time and had faced down dangers that none of the others could relate to. Ironically, he guessed that the one he could relate to the most besides Cyberdramon would be Renamon due to her surviving on her own in the digital world for a long time before meeting Rika.

They finished up at the restaurant and decided to go out for karaoke. The group then passed the next two hours happily singing and chatting in one of the karaoke rooms. Ryo wasn't bad at singing, but he wasn't exactly star material. Luckily, Takato's bad singing stood out much more than Ryo's. After the first time he got to the mike, Miho made sure to go after him. Her singing was phenomenal and Ryo wondered why she would teach at a school instead of performing.

When their time was up, they cleared out of the karaoke room. They exchanged information, said their goodbyes then split up since they lived in different directions. Takato left Ryo and Henry soon after, waving his goodbye as he walked into the Bakery.

The pair walked down the Shinjuku streets in silence. Eventually Henry spoke up.

"Fun night," he said, stilling looking forward and walking down the street.

"Yeah," replied Ryo. "Found some lively people."

"You didn't seem like you were very into them," said Henry, cutting straight to the chase. "Sorry for dragging you along."

"No, it was fun," responded Ryo. "Honestly, I really enjoyed the whole thing a lot more than I thought I would. It just got me thinking a little."

"About?"

"How different the Tamers are from normal people. I don't mean like we're special or anything. Just that our experiences growing up were so different. You guys were slightly more normal, but I spent around a year in the digital world. I just can't relate to someone with a 'normal' childhood."

"I guess I can see that. You seem fine normally though."

"Seem being the operative word. I'm just good at hiding it," confided Ryo. "I actually moved away from Kyushu to Shinjuku because your guys were here. I couldn't relate to my family anymore, but I feel I can to the people here."

They made it to their apartment and stood facing each other in front of the door.

"You and Suzie have been extremely good to me. You two make me feel like I belong to a normal family," said Ryo. "I just want to thank you for that. It means more to me than you could imagine."

"Glad to be there," replied Henry. "You make a great roommate. Thanks again for coming tonight. You really helped me out."

Ryo unlocked the door and they walked inside. Henry turned on the lights and Ryo looked around. Suzie had left and the apartment was the empty and still. Despite that, it had a feeling in it that Ryo had never felt anywhere else. It had a feeling of being lived in. The presence of its three usual occupants could be felt all over. It felt like home.

No more words were said between them as the two men went to their separate rooms and prepared to sleep. As Ryo lay in his dark room trying to fall asleep, he thought back on the day and smiled. It felt like a weight had lifted from his chest.

Soon he was sleeping soundly, his dreams full of adventures in the digital world. This time he was older and joined by all of the Tamers and their partners. Together they fought through danger after danger as if it was nothing, working together towards their goal of saving their friend. In what seemed like no time at all the Tamers had made it past all of the dangers to a castle dungeon.

Terriermon and Lopmon broke down the cell door in front of them. Henry and Suzie walked forward and each stretched out a hand to the occupant inside. A tiny figure walked out, clutching a Monodramon plushy to his chest. Child Ryo looked up at older Ryo timidly. Ryo stretched out a hand to his younger self. The little boy grabbed it and Ryo led him out of the cell, introducing him to all of his friends.


End file.
